Quincy News: How to solve the world’s plastics problem: Bring back the milk man

Milk, soap, deodorant and recycling
Image via CNN
– News covered by Quincy Quarry News with commentary added.

How to solve the world’s plastics problem: Bring back the milk man!

TerraCycle, a small waste management company headquartered in Trenton New Jersey, has developed a proposal to recycle plastic and so mitigate how plastic is making a mess of our planet.

A perfect loop?
A TerraCycle graphic image
Quick and dirty, TerraCycle’s so-called “Loop” system is to reprise the milk man of old by arranging a way for consumers to arrange for the delivery of regularly used products to their home and the delivery service takes back empty product packaging that is designed for reuse.

Additionally, to encourage consumer compliance, varying deposit fees would imposed as the product makers will retain technical ownership of the packaging as was once the case with glass milk bottles as well as beer and soda pop bottles.

Loop delivery pod and recyclable packaging
Image via CNN
To date, TerraCycle’s proposal is resonating with all manner of major producers of consumer products that variously rely on plastic and other recyclable materials.

In fact, eight of the top ten cited sources of plastic waste are actively working with TerraCycle to develop recyclable packaging.

And not just plastic shampoo bottle and such, but also developing way to recycle disposable diapers and feminine hygiene products waste.

Plastic productions and use statistics
Image via CNN
While things are still in the early stages as well as that most start up ventures go south, this one looks promising as it is basically a recycling of a once successful delivery and product container recycling model combined with today’s considerable use of online purchases and home delivery shipping by consumers.

Granted, while developing financially viable recyclable packaging, ramping up an cost/effective delivery and recovery transportation system, securing wide consumer acceptance need to be accomplished as well as even more yet, the core plan is ultimately based on reapplying known technologies to new applications as opposed to endeavoring to develop whole new technologies.

That and how we are running out of landfill and the ocean as well as seafood are already laden with plastic waste.